LOCATION STARICHKOF AK

Established Series
Rev. RBH/JPM/DLM
02/2022

STARICHKOF SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: very poorly drained
Parent material: mucky peat with thin mineral stratas
Landform: fens
Slopes: range 0 to 8 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 20 to 30 inches
Mean annual temperature: 28 to 36 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Dysic Fluvaquentic Cryohemists

TYPICAL PEDON: Starichkof peat - on a 1 percent slope under native vegetation of sedges, bog birch, and other low-growing shrubs. (All colors are for moist soil)

Oi--0 to 2 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) moist, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) squeezed, living moss; few sedge and shrub roots; extremely acid (pH 4.3). (2 to 6 inches thick)

Oe1--2 to 5 inches; black (N 2/0) moist and squeezes; mucky peat; about 85 percent fibers, 65 percent after rubbing; extremely acid (pH 4.3). (2 to 8 inches thick)

Oe2--5 to 10 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) moist, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) squeezed mucky peat; about 75 percent fibers, 40 percent after rubbing; very strongly acid (pH 4.5). (4 to 12 inches thick)

Oe3--10 to 60 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) mucky peat stratified with 1 lenses, 1.5 mm thick white (2.5Y) ashy sand at upper boundary and 4 lenses, 1 to 5 mm thick dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; about 55 percent fibers, 25 percent after rubbing; very strongly acid (pH 4.5).

TYPE LOCATION: Western Kenai Peninsula Area, Alaska; about 2 1/2 miles NE of the village of Kasilof; about 1000 feet southwest of the northeast corner of section 21, T.3 N., R.11 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Organic material ranges: is greater than 5 feet thick with thin mineral stratas
Layers of coarse moss peat: 1 to 8 inches thick may occur at any depth
Thin layers of mineral soil, ash, and woody fragments: occur within the control section
The pH (0.01M CaCl2) of the organic material: less than 4.5 in all parts of the control section.

O horizons: (surface tier)
Matrix color: hue of 5YR or 7.5YR; value of 2 to 5; chroma of 2 to 4
Rubbed colors: value of 3 to 5; chroma of 3 to 6
Texture: peat, mucky peat
Fiber content: 80 to 90 percent unrubbed and 40 to 70 percent rubbed
Reaction class: (1:1 H20) extremely acid to very strongly acid

Oe horizon: (subsurface tier)
Matrix color: hue of 5YR to 10YR; value of 2 or 3, chroma of 2 to 4, values increase when pressed
Texture: mucky peat with thin mineral stratas
Fiber content: 60 to 65 percent unrubbed and 20 to 40 percent rubbed
Reaction class: (1:1 H20) extremely acid to very strongly acid

COMPETING SERIES: These include the Doroshin, Maybeso, Nikolai, Salamatof, and Saltery soils in the same order. Doroshin, Maybeso, and Nikolai soils have a continuous mineral substratum beginning within the control section. Salamatof and Saltery soils have dominantly fibric material within the control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Drainage class: very poorly drained
Parent material: mucky peat with thin mineral stratas
Landform: fens
Slopes: range 0 to 8 percent
The climate: maritime
Mean annual temperature: 28 to 36 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 20 to 30 inches

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: There are no competing soils in this classification

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained, runoff. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to very high. The water table is at or near the surface.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used wildlife habitat and watershed. The natural vegetation is mainly sedges, sphagnum moss, bog birch, Labrador tea, and other low-growing shrubs and forbs.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 224 Cook Inlet Lowlands, South-central Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kenai-Kasilof Area, Alaska, 1960.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile include:
Hemic material from 2 to 60 inches with thin strata of silt loam from 10 to 60 inches
pH (0.01M CaCl2): less than 4.5 in all parts of the control section
Temperature regime: cryic

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.